Long-time local judge Hon. Charles R. “Bob” Burner, who sat on the first bench of the Kosciusko County Court, died Wednesday afternoon at Kosciusko Community Hospital. He was 81.
Burner served as a local judge beginning in 1964, as a Warsaw City Court judge before assuming the bench as judge of the newly created Kosciusko County Court in 1976. He took over the Superior Court bench two years later.
Burner left office in 1996 after losing to current-Judge Duane Huffer in that election. He served as a special judge in a sporadic role until 2005.
During his tenure, the Republican Burner succeeding in starting the Area Plan Commission, and his work in establishing a juvenile rehabilitation program was widely recognized.
Burner was born in Connersville and lived in Warsaw for his professional life with his wife, Sheila Kay, and their five children.
A graduate of Indiana University School of Law, Burner was a member of the Elks Club, the Indiana State Bar Association and past president of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.
McHatton-Sadler Funeral Chapel is handling Burner’s services. The arrangements are pending.
